The transition from candid photography to super-candid photography to secret
or "private-eye" photography is a gradual one. Except for the truly covert
techniques, which are not our concern here, the basic approaches are
substantially the same.

Candid Photography

In the early days of 35mm photography, candid cameramen were ever alert to
opportunities to capture their fellow mortals in such pursuits as scratching
themselves privately, yawning their tonsils out in the open, and so on. This
brand of candid photography has gone out of vogue. It should stay out. Today,
the true candid cameraman is one who is able to capture the spirit and
spontaneity of people at work and at play.

The ultra-miniature camera is an ideal tool for taking candid pictures. Its
very informality tends to bring out the relaxed personality of the subject
who finds it hard to take the camera seriously. If your subject should freeze
up, you can pretend to be taking practice shots, telling him that you will
let him know when you are ready for the real picture. When you tell him this,
you should have already taken your pictures. Another technique is the reverse;
after you pretend that you have made your shots, you take another when the
subject is off-guard.

Yet another approach is to pretend to fumble with your camera, to look for
some special angle from which to take the picture. Throughout this maneuvering,
you must appear to be quite relaxed, scarcely intent upon grabbing your picture.
In truth, you are alert for your opening.

If you take pictures of adults or of babies and children in their natural
habitats, you are more likely to finesse them into becoming engrossed in
their own pursuits. The adults and older children will appreciate such pictures
much more than the stiff poses.

The group picture should be easier to take than the individual pose. With
the group, you can play the members off against each other. As with the
individual picture-taking, you can run through some practice shots or you
can pretend to be fumbling with the camera while looking for your opportunity.

Watch for the little interactions that precede the formal pose. Help provoke
them by stretching out your own preparations. Then provoke one of the group
members into talking to or kidding the others. By the time the people in
the group get ready to put on their best stares, you will have taken your
picture. When they learn that you have taken your picture, they will relax
again so that you can get a second picture.

The more interesting group pictures are those in which the members have settled
down into little knots of conversation or mutual activity. If you move about
quietly and don't ask people to pose for you, you'll be surprised how quickly
they lose all awareness of your photographic enterprise.

The Techniques of Undercover Photography

You should not use your camera as an instrument for the invasion of personal
privacy. If it is all in fun, enjoy yourself but do not take your pictures
with a view to embarrassing others.

The first step is to have all the camera operating controls adjusted beforehand.
Make sure of your pictures will fall within the depth-of-field for your lens
at the aperture you will be using. If you are taking your pictures
within close range of your subject, make the various camera adjustments out
of his line of vision. Do so in your pocket or behind your back or turn casually
away.

Your preparedness should include anticipating the acts and movements of your
subjects under the particular circumstances. When photographing special events
or ceremonies, try to anticipate beforehand the peaks of action or animation
for which you must be ready.

Your personal demeanor must be that of someone who is intent on his own business,
which is not that of taking pictures. Your subjects will not pay attention
to you if you seem to have a reason for being where you are or doing what
you seem to be doing. Try to melt into the group, doing whatever all the
others seem to be doing. If you appear to be doing something apart, you will
make yourself conspicuous. Sudden movements are to be avoided. Maintain a
self-confident air which seems to tell everyone that you're doing what you're
supposed to be doing.

If you are adept at creating diversions, you can provoke somebody into engaging
your subject's attention. You might even set up a decoy of your own -- an
accomplice who will create some diverting action.

As you move into slightly covert techniques, you can take advantage of open
doorways, arches, windows and other structures which provide some operating
cover for you while permitting a clear field of view for the camera. If your
subject is in bright light and you are in the shade, he is scarcely apt to
see you. The same applies to subjects in well-lit areas in homes or stores.
If you keep to the shade or darkness outside, your subject will not notice
you.

Special Finders

For some cameras, such as Minox, Yashica and Minolta, special finders are
available which make the camera more suitable as a tool for private-eye
photography. One is the Minox reflex finder for use at waist-level and another
is the Minox right-angle mirror finder for use at eye-level. With the Minolta
model (for use with the Minolta MGS and QT), both finders are incorporated
into one unit. When flipped to the back of the camera it is used as
a right-angle finder. Rotated to the front of the camera, the
same units acts as a waist-level finder.

You can take pictures unobserved at waist level or you can hold the camera
overhead, finding the scene in the reflex viewfinder when, otherwise, your
view would be obscured by heads of people in a crowd. Seated at banquets
and at conference tables, in well-lit rooms, you can pretend to be fumbling
with the camera when, in reality, you are busy taking pictures of the people
about you as they eat, converse or watch the proceedings. With a little practice,
you can use the camera with its finder in a variety of positions, so that
you can appear to be facing in one direction while the camera is taking a
picture in another.

The right-angle mirror finder operates through the camera's own viewfinder.
You will therefore not have any problem of parallax, as long as the camera
corrects for parallax. You do your viewing by looking into a small mirror
which is at an angle to the viewfinder window. Accordingly, while you face
in one direction, the lens of the camera is pointing at right angles to it.
Your subject is not alert to any picture-taking by you and hence you can
snap away to your heart's content.

A few spy shops with some mini cameras and other equipment:

The CIA operates a rather useful web site with lots of good information,
including a 'tour' of some of the exhibits in the CIA museum (unfortunately
the exhibit center is behind the fence so not open to the public; a great
pity). One of the Web exhibits is of the Minox and features a (reversed!)
picture of the B and a paragraph filled with info that is intriguing, if
true, but probably just wrong. It says that in 1958 Minox introduced a new
model made of lightweight plastic and which focused down to 8 inches (20
cm). I've never heard of such a camera, but who knows. The URL is:
http://www.odci.gov/cia/information/artifacts/toc.htm
which leads you to the front door of the exhibit center pages. You'll probably
want to look at the microdot camera and some of the other gadgets. The Minox
has its own link from the contents page.

If you have any ideas, suggestions or comments about these pages, please
contact the Sub Club at the FRONT DESK.